Beginner in machine quilting... please help

14 years ago

Hello

I have a yr old Janome DC 3050 sewing machine that my hubby bought me for Christmas. I think I have used it twice.

I am interested in using it to machine quilt. Can I do it with a regular sewing machine? I know you are probably thinking I should take a class but believe me there is only one place in my area to take a class and I am not interested in making garments.

I don't see anywhere in my manual where it gives me instructions on how to use the machine to quilt.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you :)

Sharon

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Comments (4)

teresa_nc7
14 years ago
To use your machine to quilt you need to have one of two things possible:
1. your machine comes with a "walking" or even feed foot; this allows you to quilt the layers without the bottom layer bunching up and causing pleats - or you have the possibility of buying a walking foot for your machine, be warned, they can be pricey.

2. your machine allows for dropping the feed "dogs" or teeth down beneath the throat plate so that you can free motion quilt using an open-toed foot or darning foot; when the feed teeth are dropped you can move the quilt around to quilt all three layers together.

After looking up your machine on the Janome web site, it does say the machine is for quilting and other home dec projects. Read your manual about the SFS (superior feed system) to see how that might apply when machine quilting. There is an even feed (walking) foot available listed in the accessories.

There is also a 1/4" quilting foot which you may want to get. This helps you maintain a 1/4" seam allowance used in piecing blocks for your quilts. I couldn't do without my 1/4" foot!

The best thing to do is get out your machine's manual and read it from cover to cover. Then just start practicing.

Here is a link that might be useful: info on your model
solstice98
14 years ago
Sharon, are you talking about the actually quilting or just sewing the pieces together to form blocks? That may seem like a simple question, but I don't know if you mean you are a beginning quilter, or a beginner at using the machine to quilt. Any machine, even the most basic, will work beautifully for piecing the blocks. Teresa is right that a walking foot is best for layering all the fabrics together; it prevents bunching and helps keep the backing as smooth as the pieced top. But I made several quilts before I even knew there was such a thing as a walking foot. LOL. Ignorance is bliss, right?
You only need to drop the feed dogs if you are going to free motion quilt. That's when you move the layered quilt around under the needle to do curves and other designs in your stitching. If you are going to quilt in a mostly straight line, or even a gentle curve, you can leave the dogs in place. I quilted for years before I was brave enough to start free motion quilting.

Can you tell us a little bit more about what you want to do and I'm sure you'll get lots of good advice.

Welcome to the forum!
Kate
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I mostly lurk here but today's my day off so I have some time.I don't have a Janome but most machines are basicly the same. Machine applique leave the feed dogs up. Just go slow and you'll have time to move your fabric. My machine will just make the blanket stitch in one dirction some machines will do both directions so you need to figure that out. The zig zag foot should have a wide enough opening that you will be able to make as big a blanket stitch as you want but I always slowly check this out so I don't break a needle. If you want to do a satin stitch you will still leave the feed dogs up and let them help you feed the material through the machine. Threading if its hard to get the spool thread below the foot just pull it to the side and hang onto it while you take the first couple of stitches. Curved piecing I wouldn't use the darning foot just use the regular foot and go slowly to feed the material in. Its something that takes practice. I use my darning foot only when I want to free motion quilt and thats when you drop the feed dogs. When you do free motion quilting you are in control of feeding the material threw the machine and thats the tricky thing to learn so that you get nice looking stitches. Hope some of this helps, just keep playing with your new machine and you'll figure it out. Do they have classes where you bought the machine? That would be a good idea if it will work out for you. Good luck and have fun! Peg
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bonica
14 years ago
The instructions your Janome manual has for basting and the basting foot are what you need for free motion quilting. I know they don't give much detail but it's enough to give you the general idea. Tension on these machines is a challenge. You'll have to play with that to see what's best. I usually set it at 3. Watch your bottom thread.
Bon
:)
damascusannie
14 years ago
Just to roil the waters: technically you don't need droppable feed dogs to FM quilt if you have a darning/free-motion foot. This is a myth perpetuated by the SM companies to convince quilters to buy new machines. I use only vintage (pre-1960) sewing machines which may or may not have droppable dogs. The machine that I use to demonstrate free-motion quilting at shows and lectures is from the 1930s and doesn't have droppable feed-dogs.

Beginner in machine quilting... please help

Comments (4)

teresa_nc7

solstice98

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